Handbook of Contemporary Sociological Theory (Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research)

Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research

Handbook of

Contemporary

Sociological Theory

Seth Abrutyn

Editor

Handbooks of Sociology and Social

Research

Series Editor

John DeLamater , University of Wisconsin , MADISON , Wisconsin , USA

Each of these Handbooks survey the fi eld in a critical manner, evaluating

theoretical models in light of the best available empirical evidence.

Distinctively sociological approaches are highlighted by means of explicit

comparison to perspectives characterizing related disciplines such as psy￾chology, psychiatry, and anthropology. These seminal works seek to record

where the fi eld has been, to identify its current location, and to plot its course

for the future. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for this series,

please contact the series editor, John DeLamater: [email protected].

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6055

Seth Abrutyn

Editor

Handbook of

Contemporary

Sociological Theory

ISSN 1389-6903

Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research

ISBN 978-3-319-32248-3 ISBN 978-3-319-32250-6 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-32250-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016941062

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or

part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of

illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way,

and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,

or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this

publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are

exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in

this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor

the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material

contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland

Editor

Seth Abrutyn

Department of Sociology

The University of Memphis

Memphis , Tennessee , USA

In loving memory of my Mom,

Alie

vii

In recent decades, large handbooks and even larger encyclopedias on virtu￾ally all topics have proliferated in the academic world. Part of this trend is to

be explained by the proliferation of knowledge in an ever-more specialized

intellectual ecosystem; there is now a market for summaries and reviews

because it is virtually impossible to keep up in the ever-expanding subfi elds

within disciplines, to say nothing of new disciplines that continue to emerge.

The penetration of the World Wide Web has only accelerated these trends.

Yet, if truth be told, another reason that so many handbooks are being pub￾lished is that it is still one of the few types of books that libraries still feel

compelled to buy, although the goose that has been laying this golden egg—

i.e., academics willing to write chapters for a little cost and libraries all-too￾willing to buy them––may itself be subject to the forces of publishing

evolution: the overproduction of handbooks leading to increasing density and

competition in a limited resource niche. Indeed, it is entirely conceivable that

publishers will soon need to produce Meta-Handbooks to consolidate the

knowledge in the proliferating handbooks, or alternatively, the Goose will

simply go extinct and be replaced by something more like Wikipedia-type

reviews.

Fifteen years ago, when I was asked to edit the fi rst Handbook of

Sociological Theory , handbooks were only beginning to proliferate. At the

time, I was reluctant to take on all of the work because, as I have learned,

editing books often resembles trying to herd cats to a deadline in a particular

format. As it turned out, this fi rst Handbook of Sociological Theory was sur￾prisingly easy because virtually everyone delivered their chapter on time, in

the right format, and spot-on in terms of its content. Indeed, I was so impressed

that I edited several more books, which did not quite replicate my experience

with the fi rst Handbook of Sociological Theory . And so, when I was

approached to edit another Handbook of Sociological Theory , I demurred

because the potential amount of work involved but, also, because I felt that a

different approach was required. The book should be edited by a younger,

rising theorists with a different set of eyes and with a less ossifi ed mind, and

it is for this reason that Seth Abrutyn was selected to edit the volume; and the

differences between the fi rst and this second handbook are so clearly evident.

This book has a better mix of scholars at different stages of their careers; and

the book is more focused on key issues and topics rather than being overly

encyclopedic. It is, I think, a much tighter and focused book than the one that

I edited, even though so many prominent scholars wrote chapters that became

Foreword

viii

necessary “read’s” by theorists. I like the whole thrust of the organization in

this new Handbook of Sociological Theory: Re-thinking and bringing into the

twenty-fi rst century classical questions (Part I); rethinking the never-ending

macro-micro debate in ways that, in my view, obviate the debate and demon￾strate how far sociology has come in resolving the issues (Part II); demon￾strating that sociologists do indeed have a coherent view of the basic properties

of the social universe (Part III); delineating new forms of micro sociology and

the constraints imposed on the micro universe (Part IV); and outlining new

models of social change that update those of the past (Part VI). In reading

over the specifi c chapters that Seth Abrutyn reviews in his introduction,

including the two chapters that I contributed, there is a very different feel in

this handbook. For example, in writing about the macro and meso basis of the

micro-social order, I knew that I would be in dialogue with Edward Lawler

and his team (Shane Thye and Jeongkoo Yoon), and they appeared to have felt

the same way. The result is a much more powerful set of theoretical argument

than each of the chapters alone, and one in which we all are trying to address

each others’ work. Add to his, chapters on networks and fi elds to rethinking

the macro-macro linkage, and the whole section demonstrates how far sociol￾ogy has come. Indeed, I have recently taken to arguing that sociology is the

most mature science when it comes to resolving its micro-macro “gap” prob￾lems; and I am prepared to defend this, even when the most mature sciences,

biology and physics, are considered.

What also emerges in all of the sections is this: The chapters review argu￾ments, to be sure, but they each also try to explain something. This may seem

rather odd compliment for a theory volume but, in fact, so much theoretical

sociology does not explain how anything operates. It does not tell us how and

why a process and set of processes operate and unfold; rather, too much theo￾retical sociology is locked into foundational, ontological, epistemological,

and other debates that are, in essence, never ending. I have often derisively

called this “talk about talk”—which has earned me a few friends—but the

fact is that too many sociologists, and particularly those who see themselves

as theorists, do not believe that a science of the social universe is possible, or

even desirable. They criticize positivism, proclaim as “pretentious” efforts to

develop sociological laws and models of fundamental social processes, and

otherwise debunk those who think that there is nothing fundamentally differ￾ent about the social universe compared to the biotic and physicochemical

universes.

Somehow the facts that humans have big brains (totally explicable in

terms of biological theory) and, hence, can develop language and culture

makes the human universe unique and out of reach of science. Nothing could

be further from the truth, and many of the chapters clearly demonstrate that

such is the case. The social world of humans is, of course, a different domain

of the universe, but it is one that I am confi dent will be seen as universal

across the galaxies, if and when we humans are ever able to contact other life

forms with intelligence, language, and culture. I would argue that the same

laws and models that we develop here on earth for human beings and their

patterns of social organization will look much the same across the universe—

which, to some, may seem preposterous. But if we believe that human social

Foreword

ix

organization reveals generic and universal properties that can be explained by

theories and models, just like those in physics, then why should social orga￾nization created by intelligent, culture-using animals be so different else￾where in the universe.

I do not want to get too carried away here, but the point is clear: theory

should explain why and how humans behave, interact, and organize them￾selves in all times and places. And while there will always be a “historically”

unique aspect to how any given pattern of social organization came to exist,

its actual operation can be explained by abstract laws and models. Historical

explanations are a very legitimate mode of explanation, and they often yield

insights that allow for more nomothetic explanations to be developed—as has

been the case with physics where the history of the universe is best explained

by the abstract principles of physics. The same is true of any biotic system, or

geological system, and so why would we think that such could not be the case

for human social systems? And while the case is often made that humans

have “agency,” and thus the very nature of the universe can be changed, agen￾tic behaviors themselves are understandable by abstract laws and models;

and, moreover, agency cannot change the laws of social organization. Indeed,

agency is often crushed by the reality of social organization whose dynamics

change agents often assume they can obviate. Indeed, failed agency is a very

good indicator that more fundamental forces are in play, and that perhaps it is

a good idea to fi gure out what these are and to understand their dynamics so

that agents do not make the same mistakes over and over again.

Not all who have contributed to this volume will agree with my advocacy,

of course, but this handbook provides a very good look at the potential for

scientifi c explanation in sociology. There is less mushing abound in the quag￾mire of old philosophical debates, relativism, and constructivism; rather,

there is more of a feel that scholars can roll up their sleeves and explain how

the social world operates. Since the late 1950s, sociology has faced a crisis of

confi dence, masked by a shrill of unfounded overconfi dence that the social

world is not amenable to scientifi c explanations about generic and universal

processes in all times and places that humans have organized. There has been

a kind of smug cynicism about sociology’s assumed failings to explain very

much with science. Yet, in fact, if we look back to theoretical sociology 50

years ago, about the time that I became a professional sociologist, the prog￾ress in theoretical sociology has been unbelievably rapid. Sociology can

explain far more of the social universe than it could back then, and it is now

poised to explain even more. And, as much as one book can, this handbook

offers a sense for what can be done in the future.

When I entered graduate school in the mid-1960s, there was a real sense

that sociology had arrived at the table of science. Sociology would be able to

develop testable theories, formally stated, that could explain the operative

dynamics of the social universe. Indeed, confi dence among some was so great

that we were required to read the plethora of “theory construction” books and

articles that began to appear in both sociology and philosophy. I always

thought that these were incredibly boring—ironical, I guess, because I now

write much of this boring formal theory. But my objection to such books is

the implicit view the “instructions for constructing theories” where very

Foreword

x

much like methods textbooks or manual for statistical modeling. But, in fact,

theorizing is a creative activity of having insights into the nature and opera￾tion of some fundamental social process; formalizing the theory is “mop up

work” of trying to fi nd a way to state the relationships among the forces in

play in a parsimonious way. Formalization, itself, is not theorizing; having

insights in the forces driving the social universe is theorizing. So, while there

is a little formal theorizing in this handbook, it is fi lled with insights into how

the social universe operates. Others can build upon these ideas, and once they

are well developed, it becomes possible to express them more formally—but,

again, that is not what is most important. Ideas over formats and formaliza￾tion are what will drive sociological theorizing; and this handbook is fi lled

with such ideas.

Finally, I have a dream—most likely never to be realized but a dream

nonetheless—that Handbooks of Sociological Theory will someday in the

near future never be necessary because our discipline’s introductory text￾books would, like those in physics, outline most of the basic principles. Gone

would be discussion of our classical fi gures, cartoons, boxes full of color and

not much else, diagrams for the sake of graphics, and all of the fl uff that is

now in a sociology textbook. Physics textbooks have adopted much of this

look, but it is not fl uff in the manner of sociology textbooks. It is a sincere

effort to communicate basic principles, and this is what sociology books of

the future should look like. Biology textbooks also have that “four color

look” (and expense) but if one reads them closely, this “look” focuses on

explaining on generic biological processes. In my dream, there would be no

theory handbooks; rather, handbook s in sociology would be about the rapidly

accumulating knowledge in subfi elds where empirical research, theoretically

informed, could be assembled for a quick review. And such handbooks might

be needed every year because a fi eld where data is collected to assess theories

advance rapidly. In some ways, the very need for a Handbook of Sociological

Theory like this one in 2016 tells us that we still have ways to go in separating

theory as a goal of science as opposed to social theory that debunks science;

that tells us once again the stories of St. Marx, St. Weber, St. Durkheim, and

other canonized fi gures in whose shadows we still stand; that drags in old

philosophical debates; and that expresses relativistic, constructivist, and

sophistic views about sociology.

The chapters in this book give me some hope that we can avoid a fate

dominated by critics. And so, let us dedicate this Handbook of Sociological

Theory and the others that will be necessary in the near future to obviating, in

the future, the need for such Handbooks of Sociological Theory . We should

look and work for a day when there would be such wide consensus about

explanations of how the social universe operates that our introductory text￾books would tell much of the basic theoretical story. Perhaps sociology would

have fewer interested students, but they would be students with theoretical

knowledge that would be useful in making the social world a better place for

all.

Institute for Theoretical Social Science Jonathan H. Turner

Santa Barbara , CA , USA

Foreword

xi

Acknowledgements

I would like to fi rst extend a warm thank you to each of the contributors to

this volume. You all made the challenge of managing an editorship such as

this much easier, and the handbook is a testament to your expertise and the

care you put into your respective chapters. In addition, I would like to thank

Jonathan Turner, my grad school advisor, good friend, and confi dant, for

opening doors and giving constant encouragement, advice, and support.

Additionally, Jon, Steve Brint, Sandy Maryanski, Chris Chase-Dunn, Jan

Stets, and Peter Burke were all instrumental in shaping my eclectic taste in

theory, as well as shaping the theorist I have become, and thus have much to

do with the vision of this handbook. I also have to thank my collaborator and

close colleague, Anna S. Mueller, for tolerating (and encouraging) my forays

into the theoretical ether; my graduate theory seminar students who have

allowed me to use the class as a laboratory for my ideas; the sociology depart￾ment at Memphis for being supportive and excellent colleagues; and, fi nally,

my graduate assistant, Taylor M. Binnix, who was instrumental in helping

format and proof these chapters. Finally, my wife, Danielle Morad

Abrutyn, and son Asa Jonas, deserve a huge thank you: they have done noth￾ing but, inspire me, and encourage and support all of my academic endeavors,

including this handbook.

xiii

1 Introduction ................................................................................... 1

Seth Abrutyn

Part I Classical Questions Contemporalized

2 Integrating and Disintegrating Dynamics

in Human Societies ........................................................................ 19

Jonathan H. Turner

3 Power in Organizational Society: Macro, Meso and Micro ...... 43

Yingyao Wang and Simone Polillo

4 Action in Society: Refl exively Conceptualizing Activities ......... 63

Andreas Glaeser

5 Interactionism: Meaning and Self as Process ............................. 85

Iddo Tavory

6 Cultural Theory ............................................................................ 99

Omar Lizardo

Part II Rethinking the Macro-Micro Link

7 The Macro and Meso Basis of the Micro Social Order ............. 123

Jonathan H. Turner

8 The Problem of Social Order in Nested Group Structures ....... 149

Edward J. Lawler , Shane R. Thye , and Jeongkoo Yoon

9 Social Networks and Relational Sociology .................................. 167

Nick Crossley

10 Varieties of Sociological Field Theory ......................................... 185

Daniel N. Kluttz and Neil Fligstein

Contents

xiv

Part III A Coherent Social Universe

11 Institutional Spheres: The Macro- Structure

and Culture of Social Life ............................................................ 207

Seth Abrutyn

12 Stratifi cation .................................................................................. 229

Katja M. Guenther , Matthew C. Mahutga , and Panu Suppatkul

13 The Concept of Community as Theoretical Ground:

Contention and Compatibility Across Levels

of Analysis and Standpoints of Social Processes ........................ 247

Michael D. Irwin

14 Organizations as Sites and Drivers of Social Action .................. 269

Walter W. Powell and Christof Brandtner

15 Small Groups: Refl ections of and Building

Blocks for Social Structure ........................................................... 293

Stephen Benard and Trenton D. Mize

16 The Theories of Status Characteristics

and Expectation States ................................................................. 321

Murray Webster Jr. and Lisa Slattery Walker

17 The Self .......................................................................................... 343

Alicia D. Cast and Jan E. Stets

Part IV Constraints on Experience

18 Microsociologies: Social Exchange, Trust, Justice,

and Legitimacy .............................................................................. 369

Michael J. Carter

19 Ethnomethodology and Social Phenomenology ......................... 387

Jason Turowetz , Matthew M. Hollander ,

and Douglas W. Maynard

20 Theory in Sociology of Emotions ................................................. 411

Emi A. Weed and Lynn Smith-Lovin

21 Sociology as the Study of Morality .............................................. 435

Kevin McCaffree

22 Forgetting to Remember: The Present Neglect

and Future Prospects of Collective Memory

in Sociological Theory................................................................... 457

Christina Simko

23 Intersectionality ............................................................................. 477

Zandria Felice Robinson

Contents